NY-style chicken wings coming to Rolla

A St. Louis-area franchisee hopes to open a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant in Rolla on North Highway 63 at the former location of Denny’s next to Donut King.

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By R.D. Hohenfeldt

The Rolla Daily News - Rolla, MO

By R.D. Hohenfeldt

Posted Jul. 12, 2013 at 1:15 PM

By R.D. Hohenfeldt

Posted Jul. 12, 2013 at 1:15 PM

A St. Louis-area franchisee hopes to open a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant in Rolla on North Highway 63 at the former location of Denny’s next to Donut King.

“They submitted the building plans Monday,” Community Development Director John Petersen told The Rolla Daily News Tuesday afternoon before the Rolla Planning and Zoning Commission meeting.

That’s the first step toward the issuance of a building permit.

“It was a very extensive set of plans,” Petersen said.

Later near the end of the meeting, Petersen announced to the commission that Rolla has been selected for a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant.

“Some people are really ecstatic about that,” he noted.

Steve Flowers, city codes administrator, Wednesday was going over the building plans drawn by Integrity Engineering.

Flowers said he would go through the drawings and the numbers submitted with them to make sure the building and its accoutrements will meet the city building code.

After he goes over it, he said, the City of Rolla Fire and Rescue will look the plans over, too. Rolla Municipal Utilities and the Public Works Department will study the plans, too.

Each of those entities that study the plans look at their own areas of concern, such as stormwater runoff, where electric can be brought in and the safety precautions written into the plan. All reviewers will make notes, called “remarks.”

“Any remarks we have will be sent to the applicant, in this case the general contractor, and they’ll work with their architect and engineer to make changes,” Flowers said.

An addendum to the plans will be submitted to the city, and Flowers will check the changes. Once he’s assured the plans have been upgraded to meet the code and the city has received the proper fees, a building permit will be issued.

The plans show the owner of the restaurant will be David Jones, Creve Coeur, who owns several other Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants. The general contractor is Hunter Construction Co., Belleville, Ill.

Flowers noted the county records show ownership of the property to be Vessell Property Management LLC. The property owner of record and the property owner on the application must match, he said.

The property is “not quite two acres,” Flowers said. The plans indicate the building will have 251 allowable capacity, but the actual number of people allowed in the building will be 235, including customers and employees.

The restaurant will have a bar area, a dining area next to it, and another dining area behind a banquette wall to separate it from the larger dining area.

Flowers said that design appears to be a way to separate smoking from non-smoking, but that’s a moot point in Rolla where smoking is prohibited in public places were people work for a paycheck.

Page 2 of 2 - There will also be patio dining.

Buffalo Wild Wings has an extensive menu, but it is known for its chicken wings and variety of sauces and seasonings. In addition, the restaurants offer 20-30 domestic and imported beers, plus wines and liquor. Several television screens tuned to sports channels are visible throughout the dining and bar areas.

The Buffalo in the title refers to Buffalo, N.Y.

According to the official company history, the first restaurant opened in Columbus, Ohio, when two young men, Jim Disbrow and Scott Lowery, who had recently moved to that city, “found themselves craving the authentic Buffalo, N.Y.-style chicken wings.”

The pair created their own signature sauce, and they opened a restaurant near the campus of The Ohio State University.

The company has grown steadily over the years, and has received several honors, such as being named one of Forbes magazine’s 200 Best Small Companies.